Role of Biomarkers in Medicine

“The use of biomarkers in basic and clinical research has become routine in many areas of medicine. They are accepted as molecular signatures that have been well characterized and repeatedly shown to be capable of predicting relevant disease states or clinical outcomes. In Role of Biomarkers in Medicine, expert researchers in their individual field have reviewed many biomarkers or potential biomarkers in various types of diseases. The topics address numerous aspects of medicine, demonstrating the current conceptual status of biomarkers as clinical tools and as surrogate endpoints in clinical research.”

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The above quote is from the preface of the book. Here’s my goodreads review. I have read about biomarkers before – for previous posts on this topic, see this link. I added the link in part because the coverage provided in this book is in my opinion generally of a somewhat lower quality than is the coverage that has been provided in some of the other books I’ve read on these topics. However the fact that the book is not amazing should probably not keep me from sharing some observations of interest from the book, which I have done in this post.

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“we suggest more precise studies to establish the exact role of this hormone […] additional studies are necessary […] there are conflicting results […] require further investigation […] more intervention studies with long-term follow-up are required. […] further studies need to be conducted […] further research is needed“ (There are a lot of comments like these in the book, I figured I should include a few in my coverage…)

“Cancer biomarkers (CB) are biomolecules produced either by the tumor cells or by other cells of the body in response to the tumor, and CB could be used as screening/early detection tool of cancer, diagnostic, prognostic, or predictor for the overall outcome of a patient. Moreover, cancer biomarkers may identify subpopulations of patients who are most likely to respond to a given therapy […] Unfortunately, […] only very few CB have been approved by the FDA as diagnostic or prognostic cancer markers […] 25 years ago, the clinical usefulness of CB was limited to be an effective tool for patient’s prognosis, surveillance, and therapy monitoring. […] CB have [since] been reported to be used also for screening of general population or risk groups, for differential diagnosis, and for clinical staging or stratification of cancer patients. Additionally, CB are used to estimate tumor burden and to substitute for a clinical endpoint and/or to measure clinical benefit, harm or lack of benefit, or harm [4, 18, 30]. Among commonly utilized biomarkers in clinical practice are PSA, AFP, CA125, and CEA.”

“Bladder cancer (BC) is the second most common malignancy in the urologic field. Preoperative predictive biomarkers of cancer progression and prognosis are imperative for optimizing […] treatment for patients with BC. […] Approximately 75–85% of BC cases are diagnosed as nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) […] NMIBC has a tendency to recur (50–70%) and may progress (10–20%) to a higher grade and/or muscle-invasive BC (MIBC) in time, which can lead to high cancer-specific mortality [2]. Histological tumor grade is one of the clinical factors associated with outcomes of patients with NMIBC. High-grade NMIBC generally exhibits more aggressive behavior than low-grade NMIBC, and it increases the risk of a poorer prognosis […] Cystoscopy and urine cytology are commonly used techniques for the diagnosis and surveillance of BC. Cystoscopy can identify […] most papillary and solid lesions, but this is highly invasive […] urine cytology is limited by examiner experience and low sensitivity. For these reasons, some tumor markers have been investigated […], but their sensitivity and specificity are limited [5] and they are unable to predict the clinical outcome of BC patients. […] Numerous efforts have been made to identify tumor markers. […] However, a serum marker that can serve as a reliable detection marker for BC has yet to be identified.”

“Endometrial cancer (EmCa) is the most common type of gynecological cancer. EmCa is the fourth most common cancer in the United States, which has been linked to increased incidence of obesity. […] there are no reliable biomarker tests for early detection of EmCa and treatment effectiveness. […] Approximately 75% of women with EmCa are postmenopausal; the most common symptom is postmenopausal bleeding […] Approximately 15% of women diagnosed with EmCa are younger than 50 years of age, while 5% are diagnosed before the age of 40 [29]. […] Roughly, half of the EmCa cases are linked to obesity. Obese women are four times more likely to develop EmCa when compared to normal weight women […] Obese individuals oftentimes exhibit resistance to leptin and show high levels of the adipokine in blood, which is known as leptin resistance […] prolonged exposure of leptin damages the hypothalamus causing it to become insensitive to the effects of leptin […] Evidence shows that leptin is an important pro-inflammatory, pro-angiogenic, and mitogenic factor for cancer. Leptin produced by cancer cells acts in an autocrine and paracrine manner to promote tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion, pro-inflammation, and angiogenesis [58, 70]. High levels of leptin […] are associated with metastasis and decreased survival rates in breast cancer patients [58]. […] Metabolic syndrome including obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, diabetes, and dyslipidemia increase the risk of developing multiple malignancies, particularly EmCa [30]. Younger women diagnosed with EmCa are usually obese, and their carcinomas show a well-differentiated histology [20].”

“Normally, tumor suppressor genes act to inhibit or arrest cell proliferation and tumor development [37]. However; when mutated, tumor suppressors become inactive, thus permitting tumor growth. For example, mutations in p53 have been determined in various cancers such as breast, colon, lung, endometrium, leukemias, and carcinomas of many tissues. These p53 mutations are found in approximately 50% of all cancers [38]. Roughly 10–20% of endometrial carcinomas exhibit p53 mutations [37]. […] overexpression of mutated tumor suppressor p53 has been associated with Type II EmCa (poor histologic grade, non-endometrioid histology, advanced stage, and poor survival).”

“Increasing data indicate that oxidative stress is involved in the development of DR [diabetic retinopathy] [16–19]. The retina has a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and has the highest oxygen uptake and glucose oxidation relative to any other tissue. This phenomenon renders the retina more susceptible to oxidative stress [20]. […] Since long-term exposure to oxidative stress is strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, polymorphic genes of detoxifying enzymes may be involved in the development of DR. […] A meta-analysis comprising 17 studies, including type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients from different ethnic origins, implied that the C (Ala) allele of the C47T polymorphism in the MnSOD gene had a significant protective effect against microvascular complications (DR and diabetic nephropathy) […] In the development of DR, superoxide levels are elevated in the retina, antioxidant defense system is compromised, MnSOD is inhibited, and mitochondria are swollen and dysfunctional [77,87–90]. Overexpression of MnSOD protects [against] diabetes-induced mitochondrial damage and the development of DR [19,91].”

“Continuous high level of blood glucose in diabetes damages micro and macro blood vessels throughout the body by altering the endothelial cell lining of the blood vessels […] Diabetes threatens vision, and patients with diabetes develop cataracts at an earlier age and are nearly twice as likely to get glaucoma compared to non-diabetic[s] [3]. More than 75% of patients who have had diabetes mellitus for more than 20 years will develop diabetic retinopathy (DR) [4]. […] DR is a slow progressive retinal disease and occurs as a consequence of longstanding accumulated functional and structural impairment of the retina by diabetes. It is a multifactorial condition arising from the complex interplay between biochemical and metabolic abnormalities occurring in all cells of the retina. DR has been classically regarded as a microangiopathy of the retina, involving changes in the vascular wall leading to capillary occlusion and thereby retinal ischemia and leakage. And more recently, the neural defects in the retina are also being appreciated […]. Recently, various clinical investigators [have detected] neuronal dysfunction at very early stages of diabetes and numerous abnormalities in the retina can be identified even before the vascular pathology appears [76, 77], thus suggesting a direct effect of diabetes on the neural retina. […] An emerging issue in DR research is the focus on the mechanistic link between chronic low-grade inflammation and angiogenesis. Recent evidence has revealed that extracellular high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) protein acts as a potent proinflammatory cytokine that triggers inflammation and recruits leukocytes to the site of tissue damage, and exhibits angiogenic effects. The expression of HMGB1 is upregulated in epiretinal membranes and vitreous fluid from patients with proliferative DR and in the diabetic retina. […] HMGB1 may be a potential biomarker [for diabetic retinopathy] […] early blockade of HMGB1 may be an effective strategy to prevent the progression of DR.”

“High blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality and is estimated to have caused 9.4 million deaths in 2010. A meta‐analysis which includes 1 million individuals has indicated that death from both CHD [coronary heart disease] and stroke increase progressively and linearly from BP levels as low as 115 mmHg systolic and 75 mmHg diastolic upwards [138]. The WHO [has] pointed out that a “reduction in systolic blood pressure of 10 mmHg is associated with a 22% reduction in coronary heart disease, 41% reduction in stroke in randomized trials, and a 41–46% reduction in cardiometabolic mortality in epidemiological studies” [139].”

“Several reproducible studies have ascertained that individuals with autism demonstrate an abnormal brain 5-HT system […] peripheral alterations in the 5-HT system may be an important marker of central abnormalities in autism. […] In a recent study, Carminati et al. [129] tested the therapeutic efficacy of venlafaxine, an antidepressant drug that inhibits the reuptake of 5-HT, and [found] that venlafaxine at a low dose [resulted in] a substantial improvement in repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, social impairment, communication, and language. Venlafaxine probably acts via serotonergic mechanisms […] OT [Oxytocin]-related studies in autism have repeatedly reported lower blood OT level in autistic patients compared to age- and gender-matched control subjects […] autistic patients demonstrate an altered neuroinflammatory response throughout their lives; they also show increased astrocyte and microglia inflammatory response in the cortex and the cerebellum [47, 48].”

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Goodreads Quotes

"Happiness and its anticipation are […] proximate mechanisms that lead us to perform and repeat acts that in the environments of history, at least, would have led to greater reproductive success." (Richard D. Alexander)